Sign



April 9, 1940.

D. N. ESTES SIGN s sheets sheet i Filed June 13, 1938 In under I. avvZ'ZNEsieS Attorneys D. N. ESTES April 9, 1940.

SIGN

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 13, 1938 Attorneys D. N; ESTES April 9,

SIGN

- Filed June 13, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 I Inventor I {Xhw'afl Isl-e5 I. a P- i \x A iiorneys I Patented Apr.9,1.940f I DavidlvQEstes. Oarlsbad, 1 I. Mex. l Application June .13, 1938, Serial No. 213.493 1 Y Thistinvention appertains to new. and useful improvements in signs, the ."present application being an improvement on my co-pending: allowed application Serial- No. 163,467,..filed September 15.11.1931

The principal" object of "the: present invention is to provide .a-sign of theluminous electrical.

discharge tube typexwhich hasa'ssociatedtherewith a character or backgroundstructure of-in- -..l sulation against which; the tube-engages, .to-the end that the illumination fromthe. tube will be immediately reflected by. an immediate portion of the background. a i

Another important object is to provide a sign wherein abackgroundpanel of colore'dxglass is employed afiordi'ngapermanent coloring effect, and eliminating the costly and tedious/process. of

' painting and otherwise preparing the. .background and the characters ofpresentday signs,

{mo thus permitting .a'-=more attractive sign to be constructed at a much less c'ostfrom the standpoint oflabor and material.

yAnother object is to provide a signemploying a background panel .of insulation, to the end,

.45 that danger of short-circuiting' 'and the-Jlike occasioned by the use. of. metallic 'panelsare totally eliminated.

.Another iniportant. object of'thel-invention is to provide asign of the character statedjwhih' f by having the luminous itubes disposed. flatly against the panel of insulation, the usual large insulator tubes found in the conventional neon tube sign constructions are elimin'atedri' Still anotherimportant object of the invention is to providea sign of the luminous electrical discharge tube construction wherein a background of preferably colored opaque'glass is provided and sandblasted to form'characters faround which or over which the'lu'minous: tubes are "disposed so that light from; the tubesis immediatel 1y reflected from the roughened sandblasted 's'urfaces affording a scintillating or twinkling eife'ct not found in present types of electricaldischarge tube sign displays. i I .45 Still another important object of the invention is-to provide a. construction in the manner. im-' mediately above stated wherein outlining tubes and centrallydisposed tubes of different-colors can be employed in conjunction with, the sand- 50 blasted. character -for causing a'merging effect .of the colors on the sandblasted surface of; the panel. Still. another important-object of the invention is to provide a sign which because-of thezcon- ,l s trastingrelation of the luminous discharge times the sandblasted character.

K '---Figure 12 is as'ection'al view'taken' substantially on the line I2-+-'I2.of' Figure 10. Figure'13 is a vertical sectional view through "a-conventionalneon-sign.'

Referring to the drawings wherein like nu-l merals designate like parts, it can be seen i'n'the cases will beof blacki'colored glass,'bu can be of'any desired colored glass.

{9 claims. (oi.. 40 1 30), v v i flagainstrthe character-will.afiorda sign which is equally appreciable during. daytime when not illuminated as at night when the same is'illuini nated. j

' These and various other important. objects and 5 advantages of the invention will f become flapparent to the reader of the following specifica In the drawings:

Figure 1 representsa front elevationalyiewofeqlo asign constructed accordance'rwith the present I invention. Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2- 2 v 'ofFigureL Y I 1 Figure 3 is a sectional view"on"theline 3+3 l5 of'Figur'e 1. v A Figure Lis a 'sectional view'onfthe line {#4 of Figure 1. I

'Figu're'5 is a fragmentary enlarged elevational viewof oneio-f the tubes in association'with'oneoieo of theicharact'ers.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary front elevat'ional view...showing' 'the'{ tube employed to outlinea character.

-.'Fig'ure 7 is across sectional view takenfsub-zgzo i stantially 'onthe line 1.-'1-of Figured. Figure'8 is a fragmentary. front'felevational view of another arrar'igementv of tubes.-

Figure. 9=.is a fragmentary frontelevational view of still another arrangement of tubes. 1 :50 I Figure '10isa fragmentary front "elevational' view showing anra'rrangement of tubes without Figure 11 is a sectional view' taken'substantially on 'thelinel I |-'ll of FigurelO. .135

drawings'that numeral 5 represents theirame of anysuitable metallic construction in) which 'the panel 6 of ins'ul'atio'n is mounted. Itis desirable that the panel 6 be of colored glass and in most.

t'of course. I

In. constructing these signs, the panel 6 is sandblasted to form the sign characters To distinguish from. the characters. shown 111.:

Figure 1 from the type 'ofcharacter. shown in Figure 6 "wherein 'the neon-tube =outlines the character, the sandblasted characters! are'preferably cut substantially deepso that, as shown in Figure 3,air-outliningshoulder 8 is. defined through the 'opening e.

against which the outer limits of light from the associated luminous tube 9 will reflect and beyond which reflection will be practically nil.

As shown in Figures 1 and 3, the luminous electrical discharge tube 9 is disposed immediately against the character and runs longitudinally through the intermediate portion of the character, so that light emanating from the tube will be immediately reflected from the roughened surface of the sandblasted character and by reason of the fact-that the sandblasted characters on the front side of the panel have the tube mounted immediately against the samesa scintillating or twinkling efiect of the light refleeting from the minute ridges and protuberances of the sandblasted character'will behighly appreciable.

As shown in Figure 4, these tubes iicanbe held by clips, each clip consisting ofa threaded member In disposed through an opening II in the panel t, thist-hreaded member In being-split longitudinally from one-end thereof andpreferably being-constructed of spring metal, withthe thus formed bifurcations curved outwardly to form spring clip arms I2 to snugly engageand retain the tube 9. A nut I 3 can be engaged on the threaded portion of this clip structure to firmly hold the same in place on the panel.

While it is desirable that the sandblasted character I be cut substantially deep in the adaptation of the invention'illustrated in Figure 1 and also sectionally shown in Figure 3, it is not necessary to sandblast a character I4 as deeply. This character I 4 is used in the adaptation of the invention as illustrated in Figures 6;7, 8 and 9 where the electrical discharge tube I5 outlines the entire character or a substantial portion of the character as illustrated in Figure 8.

As shown in Figure 6 the tube I5 outlines-the entire character and when some neutralcolored background is used, light from the tube I5 will project inwardly on to the roughened surface of the sandblasting character I4 giving a scintillating or twinkling effect.

In the case of the form of letter shown in Figure 8 orin Figure 9 where a centrally disposed tube I 6 is disposed across and preferably longitudinally of the character I4,,it is desirable that the tube I6 be of a different colored glass than the glass of the outlining tubes I 5 so that the different colors will merge and blend into each other on the surface of the sandblasting character I4.

As is shown in Figure 12, the panel 6 is'formed with very small openings I! just barely large enough to receive the backwardly bent-end portions of the tubes 9, I5 or I6 and as can be seen in this view the tubes are snugly disposed immediately-against'the panel'fi.

In some instances it'may'be desirable to eliminate entirely the sandblasted surface and provide a sign character constructed of theelectrical discharge tube alone, but-which because of the color of the glass of the tube the characters will be just as effective during daylight as at nighttime.'

Asshown in Figure 10, the panel I8 may be of some desirable color'in contrast tothe color of the tubes I9. The tube Isa is brought-through the opening I8a and curved laterally to its uppermost point and then extended straight downwardly as at b and then laterally as at c and upwardly again as at d to pass backwardly The second section of this letter G consists of thetube portion j which comes through theopening g and is curved to the point where it meets the vertical portion h where it extends downwardly to the laterally curved portion 2' and then extends upwardly as at k and then swings outwardly as at Z in close spaced relation with the panel a to a point where it extends downwardly and upwardly as at m, the upper portion of the last-mentioned part being bent behind the horizontal portion 11. from where it extends downwardly and passes rearwardly through the opening 12.

The foregoingtypes ofd'signs obviously are a departure from the conventional type illustrated in Figure 13, wherein thepanel 20 is usually of metal and has large openings therein through which the large insulating tubes 2| pass for .insiflatingthe tail portion 22 of the electrical discharge tubes 23 from the metallic panel or background".

Furthermore these conventional types of signs 24 were employed on the background panel 20 to hold thetubes 23'at-a substantial spacedposition with respect to the background 2!! so that i the 'illumination'from the'tubes23 havelittle illuminating efiect on the characters painted on the background panel 20. As a matter of fact the .lightfrom thetubes 23 instead of'being concentrated on theparticular characters, serve to illuminate theentire background anddiu'ing the daytime the sign was nothing but a jumbled arrangement of tubes and unintelligible characters painted on the background partly obscured by the tubes.

In constructing signs of the above design, it is desirable to have thebackgroun'd panel't and the luminous electrical discharge tubes of contrasting colors, to promote use or the sign: in daytime,that is, when the tubes are not-energized,

.besides :afiordingra colorful display when illuminated fortnight use.

While the foregoing specification sets forth the invention in specific terms, it is to be understood that numerous changes in the shape, size and "materials may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope'of the invention as claimed hereinafter.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a'sign structure, a background panel of insulation, and a character formed'luminous electric discharge tube disposed immediately against $0 the front'side of the said panel, and a-character sandblasted from saidpanel adjacent said tube.

2. In a sign structure, a background panel of insulation, and a character formed'luminous electric discharge tube disposed immediately against i the front side of the said panel, said panel being formed withopenings barely large enough for receiving the terminal portionsof the tube.

3.'I-n-a-signstructure, a background panel of insulation, andacharacter formed luminous electric discharge tube disposed immediately against the said panel, and a character sandblasted from said panel at-the' front side thereof adjacent said the said panel, said panel being provided with an indented character having a depth defining and outlining shoulder, said tube being disposed on the panel and against the'character at substantially the central portion thereof. 7

6. In a sign structure, a background panel of insulation, and a character formed luminous electric discharge tube disposed immediately against the said panel, said panel provided with a character having a roughened surface against which the said tube is disposed.

7. In a sign structure, a background panel of insulation, and a character formed luminous electric discharge tube disposed immediately against the said panel, said panel being provided with a character having a roughened surface against which the said tube is disposed, said character being formed to define an outlining light projection limiting shoulder.

8. In a sign structure, a background panel, a character on the panel, the face of the character being roughened and being of light reflecting property, and a luminous electrical discharge tube disposed in front of the character and against the same.

9. In a sign structure, a background panel, a

character on the panel at the front side thereof,

the face of the character being roughened and being of light reflecting property, and a luminous electrical discharge tube'disposed against the panel at the frontside of the said character and; adapted to project light immediately onto the roughened surface of the character.

- DAVID N. ESTES. 

